If you are swept up by this week's royal wedding festivities, are in the London area, and would like to do some right royal sightseeing this weekend, there are plenty of cultural riches to seek out in Britain's royal palaces (once you stomach the entrance fees). In fact, these historic royal residences are very well kept, with great gardens, souvenirs and catering, and make perfect destinations for families. Here are some of the highlights.

Hampton Court is the most awe-inspiring surviving palace and the best place to imagine the lost Tudor glories of Nonesuch, Whitehall and Greenwich palaces. Henry VIII's kitchens are its most popular indoor attraction, and they get across the feasting abundance of his court. Outside, the Maze is another echo of Renaissance times. But what is less well-known is the fine selection from the Royal Collection that can be seen here, including paintings by Holbein, tremendous tapestries, works by Rubens and Titian, and, in the Orangery, Mantegna's Triumphs of Caesar.

Yet the quirkier palaces also contain delights. Kensington Palace has been turned into a fairytale installation by fashion designers while parts of it are closed for restoration. The playful scenarios conjured up are a lot of fun, and do not get in the way of artistic treasures that range from carvings by Grinling Gibbons to a painting by Giorgio Vasari. There is also a lovely Dutch garden.

At Kew Palace, which you can visit as part of Kew Gardens, the character of George III comes through strongly – and in the end, tragically. Downstairs, a display of 18th-century satirical prints evokes the image of "Farmer George", the conscientious king who did so much to make a modern monarchy at the time of the agricultural and industrial revolutions. The small modest "palace" itself suggests his professionalised idea of monarchy. But as you go higher in the building, restored rooms give way to raw ancient wood and plaster in the spaces inhabited by the daughters he would not allow to marry – and finally you contemplate relics of his incarceration due to what his doctors called "madness".